FIG. 9 is a front view showing a refrigerator in which a shelf is mounted by means of a conventional shelf mounting structure for a refrigerator.
As shown in the figure, an interior of a refrigerator body 10 is partitioned into an upper portion and a lower portion as a freezing chamber 11 and a refrigerating chamber 13, respectively. The freezing chamber 11 and the refrigerating chamber 13 are selectively opened and closed by means of a freezing chamber door 11D and a refrigerating chamber door 13D, each of which is installed at the body 10 to pivot on an end of the door so that the other end thereof moves in the fore and aft direction about the one end.
A plurality of shelves 17 are detachably installed in the freezing chamber 11 and the refrigerating chamber 13. Each of the shelves 17 partitions the freezing or refrigerating chamber 11 or 13 into upper and lower portions, and food to be stored in the freezing chamber 11 and the refrigerating chamber 13 is placed on the shelf 17.
A plurality of supporting steps 15 are provided on both side surfaces of the freezing chamber 11 and the refrigerating chamber 13, in which each pair of supporting steps 15 are positioned at the same level as each other. The supporting steps 15 are formed to extend in the fore and aft direction, and both side ends of a bottom surface of the shelf 17 are supported on upper surfaces of the supporting steps 15. In addition, the shelf 17 is moved in the fore and aft direction in a state where both the side ends of the bottom surface of the shelf 17 are supported on the upper surfaces of the supporting steps 15, whereby food placed on the shelf 17 can be more easily put into or taken out of the freezing or refrigerating chamber 11 or 13.
However, the shelf mounting structure for a refrigerator according to the prior art as described above has the problems as follows.
As described above, in a state where both the side ends of the bottom surface of the shelf 17 are supported on the upper surfaces of the supporting steps 15, the shelf 17 is moved in the fore and aft direction, so that the food placed on the shelf can be more easily put into or taken out of the chamber. In the conventional prior art, the shelf 17 is however moved in the fore and aft direction of the freezing or refrigerating chamber 11 or 13 with both the side ends of the bottom surface of the shelf 17 merely supported on the upper surfaces of the supporting steps 15. Accordingly, when the shelf 17 is moved in the fore and aft direction of the freezing or refrigerating chamber 11 or 13, the shelf 17 can be tilted by a weight of the food placed thereon. Thus, there is a problem in that the shelf 17 is inadvertently detached from the storage space or the food placed on the shelf can fall off.
In addition, in a process where the shelf 17 is moved to the rear of the freezing or refrigerating chamber 11 or 13, a user moves excessively the shelf 17 to the rear of the freezing or refrigerating chamber 11 or 13, so that a rear end of the shelf 17 can be brought into close contact with a rear surface of the freezing or refrigerating chamber 11 or 13. Thus, flow of cold air circulating in the freezing or refrigerating chamber 11 or 13 is hindered by the shelf 17, and particularly, the food placed in a rear side of an upper surface of the shelf 17 is not effectively refrigerated or frozen.